eBay In Acquisition Talks With Skype VOIP

First it was Yahoo, then Murdoch’s News Corp, now eBay is rumored to be interested in a Skype VOIP Messenger acquisition. Skype, which revolutionized Internet communication with its VOIP messaging software, is valued around $3 billion. The introduction of a profitable communications software to eBay makes total sense, since eBay is at its core a community and eBay owned Paypal is one of the preferred ways of buying Skype Out credits. According to a Wall Street Journal story, eBay and Skype are currently in the “sensitive stages” of the talks, and no decision has been made.

Over the past years, eBay has become a direct competitor with Yahoo and Google in the commercial search and auctions market.. Some locales the big three are competing highly in are Europe, Japan and China. Skype has also been involved in the Chinese market, and is accepted internationally as the method of making Voice Over Internet Protocol calls, which makes it even more enticing to eBay.

Skype also recently announced a partnership with Chinese Web site operator Tom Online Inc. to futher develop ajoint ventured Chinese only version of Skype. “In less than a year since beginning our cooperation with Skype, we have seen robust growth in user numbers,” said TOM Online CEO Wang Lei Lei. “It indicates Chinese Internet users’ readiness to take advantage of the latest communications technologies available. The signing of this joint venture agreement is a testament to both companies’ confidence in the tremendous business potential of the joint venture, given Skype’s unrivalled technology strength and TOM Online’s unique knowledge of the Chinese market.”